Open Carrying in Louisiana

Last updated October 12, 2018.

Louisiana does not prohibit the open carrying of firearms in public. Louisiana prohibits the “negligent carrying of a concealed handgun,” which applies regardless of whether a person is licensed under state law, and includes carrying a concealed handgun, intentionally or with criminal negligence:

When it is foreseeable that the handgun may discharge, or when others are placed in reasonable apprehension that the handgun may discharge; or

When the handgun is being carried, brandished, or displayed under circumstances that create a reasonable apprehension on the part of members of the public or a law enforcement official that a crime is being committed or is about to be committed.1